


Blind eyes to see

by sarcasmismyweapon



Series: Learning Curve [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Cute, Fluff, Hawk Anbu, Hawk gets in trouble, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Iruka is cute, Iruka loves Kakashi, Life lessons fic, Multi, One Shot, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 14:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14571114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcasmismyweapon/pseuds/sarcasmismyweapon
Summary: Kakashi wakes up after a mission to find himself in the hospital, not overly surprising for the teenage Anbu. However what is surprising is that he's not alone, Iruka is right beside him. The only problem with that is Kakashi isn't wearing his mask.





	Blind eyes to see

**Author's Note:**

> As promised this is the reward fic one-shot for us having reached 200,000 words in the main story of Life Lessons. It's 10,000 words so it's quite long for a one-shot. I hope you all enjoy it.
> 
> Please leave comments and kudo's if you enjoyed this work. It means a lot to me to hear from you all.

 

Kakashi woke slowly, the haze of drugs obviously at fault for that. His mind tried to catch up, trying to determine if the drugs coursing through his body were because he’d been captured or because he had landed himself in the hospital again. A small shift of the warmth pressing against his side had him more alert, was one of his ninken with him? It took nearly all of his strength, but he managed to look down. The mop of brown hair proved that it was indeed not one of his ninken, but rather the small form of Iruka. A small smile came to his face only for him to realize that he wasn’t wearing a mask. 

He froze, fear instantly coursing through his veins. Iruka couldn’t see his face, it wasn’t allowed. Swallowing nervously he glanced around for any clue as to what was going on. Other than the medical equipment in the room, there was nothing out of place. Other than the fact that Iruka was presently snuggled up against his side, taking stock of himself Kakashi frowned when a dull ache radiated from two points in his body. His left shoulder and Left hip. He tried to recall what had happened, but the drugs were making it hard to think. They wanted to pull him back under and despite his best efforts to fight against them, the teen quickly sucamb to their abilities despite his need to figure out what was going on.

 

When he next awoke it was to the soft voices of a woman rebuking a child, he knew which child even before his eyes opened. His hands clenched into the blankets, he feared what would happen when he opened his eyes. Iruka was sure to be taken away, to have his memories altered so he wouldn’t know his identity. He might even be forced to forget him altogether, Kakashi calmed himself. The hokage wouldn’t do that, he might alter the boys memory, but he wouldn’t take the boy away from him entirely. Surely he wouldn’t, Iruka needed him. Swallowing against the rising bile in his throat Kakashi was forced to open his eyes when he heard the woman’s tone turn sharper.

“You know better!”

Glaring as his eyes came open, he blinked a few times to see the woman scowling down at the small boy who was standing at the foot of his bed. The boy was rubbing his forehead and for a split second Kakashi feared that the woman had hit the boy. Yet when Iruka muttered a soft apology did the woman turn a less irritated look upon him and sigh.

“Alright, how’s your head feel? You should have just asked for help.”

“I know.” The boy muttered. “I didn’t want to bother anyone.” He admitted.

The nurse sighed. “It’s not bothering us Iruka and besides I very much doubt that Wolf will like seeing you with a lump of your head because you couldn’t follow simple instructions.”

Kakashi watched as the woman knelt down to examine the boy, her gentle hands tilting the boys head back a bit before she hummed. 

“Well you’ve got a nice goose egg there.”

“Why do they call it that?”

Kakashi’s lips twitched as heard the boys curiosity come to the forefront of the boys examination. The nurse sighed. “I don’t know sweetie, they just do.”

“That’s stupid...Why not call it a chicken egg? There’s more of those in the village than gooses.”

The nurse was obviously having a hard time keeping a straight face as she shook her head. “I don’t know Iruka.” Straightening herself out she peered down at the boy with a smile. “How about I help you back into bed with Wolf hmm?”

“Yes please.”

The nurse smiled as she took the boys hand into her own and made to pull him around only to pause when she saw Kakashi awake. She froze at the sight of him, prompting Kakashi to glare and point at his own face. The woman laughed causing both Iruka and Kakashi to flinch.

“O-Oh I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “Sorry.” She amended before looking down at Iruka. “Iruka honey can you stay still for me?”

“Sure.”

The nurse knelt down and with ease lifted the boy up onto the edge of the bed, his small arms having come around the woman’s neck until he was once more on solid ground. The nurse pulled back as she continued to help balance the boy as he adjusted himself on the edge of the bed. She smirked at Kakashi before asking Iruka.

“Is that better?”

Kakashi frowned at the woman, not understanding what game she was playing. As soon as Iruka saw his face it was over, yet the boys answer prompted the woman forward.

“That’s good, I know it must be tough not to be able to see.” She smirked back at him.

Kakashi’s eyes widened only for the woman to nod.

“It’s okay...It’s strange, but it’s not bad....Other than when I bump into things.” 

The nurse turned her attention back towards the boy instead of the Anbu sitting upright in the bed. “I’m sure it is, but your supposed to ask for help because you can’t see where you're going.”

Iruka nodded as he took the woman’s words to heart. “I will.”

The woman smirked down at the boy before turning her attention at long last back to Kakashi. “I doubt there’s anything he wouldn’t do to be able to stay by your side.”

Iruka tilted his head back a bit as if to peer up at her. “Huh?”

Chuckling the nurse informed the boy. “Wolf is awake sweetie.”

“Wolf?!”

Chuckling Kakashi called back “Hey.” His voice was scratchy, but he ignored it when the boy turned to face him. His eyes were filmed over, white showing that he was blind. Fear lanced up Kakashi’s body, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been out, but the last time he’d seen Iruka he’d been fine. What could have possibly happened to him to have rendered him blind? It unsettled the Anbu to think that he hadn’t been there for the boy when he’d lost his sight. Looking back to the woman, he knew his shock was evident upon his face. The nurse smiled back at him, knowing already what the problem was.

“He’s fine, a simple med nin trick.”

Kakashi stared back at the boy who was smiling at him, unable to see him.

“A trick?”

The nurse hummed. “So he could be with you.” The tilt in her voice had him scowling at her once more. Chuckling she added. “ No harm is being done to his eyes.”

Kakashi nodded relieved to know that the boy hadn’t submitted himself to something that could potentially damage his ability to see just for the sake of coming to visit him. He smirked when Iruka tried to shift on the bed only to topple over, the nurse laughed. 

“Of course his ability to balance himself is a bit off because of it.” She joked as she helped the boy sit back up. “He’s a little off kilter without his eyes to guide him.” She smiled to Kakashi. “But I suppose you can keep him company can’t you?”

Kakashi smirked. “Sure.” He croaked.

He watched as the nurse helped Iruka come down the length of the bed to lay against him once more, the boys arms wrapping around his chest. He smiled down at the boy, doing his best to ignore the white covering the boys normally expressive eyes.

“Hey.”

“Wolf, you got hurt.”

Kakashi chuckled. “I think I can tell.” He looked back to the nurse before asking. “What’s the verdict?”

She snorted. “Your going to be fine, your shoulder was put back in traction as soon as you were brought here, your hip is currently being fused back together because you so carelessly broke it.”

Kakashi shrugged, it didn’t feel like he’d broken it, but he supposed that was what the drugs were for. Looking down to Iruka the teen asked. “How’d you get here?”

The boy smiled up at him before proudly stating. “Hawk.”

Snorting Kakashi muttered. “Did you convince him to bring you here or did he offer?”

Iruka was silent a moment before asking. “Does it matter?”

The nurse chuckled as she headed for the door. “I’ll let your doctor know your awake, don’t let him leave the bed.” She cautioned.

Kakashi nodded and once she was gone did he turn his attention back towards Iruka.

“You can’t see a thing.”

“Nope.” The boy laughed.

Kakashi frowned. “Why would you do that?”

“Cause I wanted to see you...Well be with you.” Iruka amended. “But I couldn’t...They said you had to have your mask off and so they wouldn’t let me come see you.”

“And somehow this ended up with you being temporarily blind?”

Iruka smiled and gave a nod. “Yeah.”

Kakashi sighed when the boy didn’t elaborate. “How did you end up temporarily blind Iruka?”

The boy pulled back a bit, losing his balance as he tried to shift, falling against the guardrail much to Kakashi’s amusement. He pulled the boy back in towards his body watching on as Iruka looked perturbed to have moved like that without knowing what was happening.

“Well I said I didn’t care and that I’d keep my eyes closed the entire time, but they didn’t trust me not to look..Hawk said they could just cover them, but the doctors said it could cause damage if no light got into my eyes.”

Kakashi nodded, that was true enough.

“So one of the nurses suggested the jutsu, it doesn’t hurt my eyes and lets light in while I can’t see.”

“Uh huh and you just went for it.” Kakashi chuckled. “Most people wouldn’t jump at the chance to be blind Iruka.”

The boy shrugged in his hold. “I wanted to be with you.”

“Obviously. Was Hawk with you when this happened?” He’d kill the older teen if he had left Iruka to face an unknown jutsu alone.

“Yeah. He kept trying to wave his hand in front of my face as it started working. Then he asked how many fingers he was holding up.”

Kakashi chuckled, that sounded like something the man would do. “Did it hurt?”

Iruka shook his head. “Nope, just felt kinda tingly and then it started to go dark. I couldn’t see anything and they tested me to make sure I wasn’t lying. Hawk ran me into a wall, he said it was just to be sure.”

Kakashi sighed. That also sounded like something the man would do. “Did it hurt?”

“A little, but I was laughing too. I hadn’t seen it coming at all.”

Kakashi shook his head as he drew the boy against him. Iruka’s arms tightened around him as the boy buried his head against his ribs.

“Wolf.”

“Hmm?”

“I fell off the bed earlier.”

Kakashi chuckled. “Yeah I think I got that much kid.”

“It’s not as easy as it looks to walk straight when you can’t see where straight is.”

Kakashi smirked. “Well I can be your eyes.”

“Okay.”

Silence reigned for all of a minute.

“Wolf?”

“Hmm?” The teen intoned with a smirk.

“How can you help me walk if your stuck in bed? You can’t lead me around and you can’t see through walls. Or does your other eye-”

Laughing Kakashi quickly cut the boy off. “I think we can manage to call a nurse if you need help outside of the bed Iruka and no my other eye does not see through walls.” He chuckled once more.

“Oh...Okay.” The boy settled down once more. “Would have been cool if it did.”

Kakashi snorted. “Yeah.” Kakashi smiled as he felt Iruka settle against him, his smaller hands clutching tightly to the hospital shirt he had been put into. Turning his head to glance down at the kid, Kakashi wondered if the nurse had been right. Was there anything Iruka wouldn’t do to be allowed near him? He didn’t know of any sane person who would willingly give up their eyesight just to lay next to someone, but then again the sanity of most shinobi was sketchy at best. Perhaps this was just a glimpse into what he’d have to deal with as the kid grew up. Closing his eyes Kakashi let the dull ache of his injuries fade to the background as the powerful pain meds and the warm body next to him drew him back once more into sleep.

 

***********

 

Kakashi woke the moment he felt Iruka shift against him, whether or not the boy wanted to leave the bed was of little consequence because that was what was happening. His hand grabbed the back of the boys shirt on reflex as the boy tumbled off the side.

“Iruka.” He called as he strained to keep a hold of the boy only to wince when it not only pulled on his sore body, but he ended up falling back into his pillows with just the boys shirt. The thud telling him the boy had fallen out of it onto the floor. Sighing the Anbu muttered something about getting the boy new clothes as he sat himself up on his elbows in an attempt to see over the edge of the bed.

“Iruka? You okay?”

“Yeah.”

Sighing in relief Kakashi called. “Did you intend to get off the bed?”

Silence.

“Iruka?”

A deep sigh. “I lost my shirt.”

Chuckling Kakashi replied. “Yeah I have it.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah oh. Can you get back up and I can pull you onto the bed.”

Iruka climbed back to his feet wobbling as he lost his center of balance. Kakashi winced when the kid stumbled back into the wall, shaking his head like one of his ninken when they got wet.

“Iruka?”

“Woah.”

Smirking he tried yet again to get the boy to focus. “Just walk straight ahead of you and I can pull you back onto the bed.”

Iruka nodded and bravely took a step forward, he managed to stay straight on course until the third step where he fell to the right and once more ended up on the ground. Kakashi sighed.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Try again.”

“I think it might be better if I stayed down here.”

Snorting at the boys put out tone, Kakashi replied. “Iruka, just stand up and I’ll guide you.”

“I can’t see.”

Kakashi chuckled. “Which is why I’ll guide you, just stick your hands out in front of you and when I can I’ll grab your arm.”

The boy let out a deep sigh before climbing once more to his feet. He did as instructed, having his arms in front of him as he tried to walk straight once more. Kakashi had nearly gotten a hold of the boys fingers before Iruka stumbled back because of his loss of balance. The boy managing to fall once more to the floor in a heap. Sighing Kakashi looked up at the ceiling, it was too amusing not to laugh. He had to stop himself from doing so, it wasn’t Iruka’s fault for being unable to walk straight. Well not entirely his fault, it was partly Hawk’s fault for even entertaining the kids idea of coming to see him.

“Wolf.”

“Yeah?”

“I think we might need to call a nurse.”

Kakashi smirked. “Yeah, you're probably right.” Staring down at the boys discarded shirt, Kakashi chuckled.

“It’s not funny!” The boy cried out sharply.

“It’s a little funny.” He commented as he reached over to stroke his Anbu tattoo. He wasn’t about to have the nurses invade his space when he could have a friend instead. It only took a moment before the man he had summoned appeared in a puff of smoke. Iruka made a startled sound on the floor from the brush of wind, prompting the Anbu to glance down instead of at Kakashi.

“What are you doing on the floor?”

“Hawk! Get me up!”

Chuckling Kakashi told the confused teen. “He has no sense of balance and tumbled off the bed.”

Hawk chuckled. “Really?”

Shaking his head at the look in the man’s eyes, Kakashi muttered. “Just get him back up here. He’s already fallen over a couple times.”

Nodding Hawk strode over to the kid and picked him up effortlessly, Iruka making a startled sound when the man’s strong hands scooped him up from the floor. Hawk placed the kid back next to Kakashi with a flourish.

“One blind kid as requested.”

Kakashi chuckled as Iruka pouted against him, The boys arms wrapping tightly around one of his own. No doubt in fear of falling off the bed again. 

“I have no idea what gave you the bright idea to encourage him.” Kakashi groused as he waved the kids shirt at the man as proof of this mornings trials. “But the least you can do is go get him something else to wear.”

Hawk snorted. “I already saved the kid from the horrors of being stuck on the floor. He can go naked for all I care.” His tone belittled his own amusement though and Kakashi took great pleasure in calling the man’s bluff.

“Does the hokage know what you did? Does Himiko or Raccoon?”

The man froze. A heated glare was shot his way.

Kakashi chuckled. “I didn’t think so.”

“Is Hawk in trouble?”

Kakashi spared a glance towards Iruka before raising a brow towards his comrade. Hawk shook his head, they both knew that if Iruka found out that Hawk shouldn’t have done all of this without permission that the kid would end up telling everyone.

“No I’m not.” Hawk said with a glare towards Kakashi. “I was just goofing around with Wolf kid.”

“Oh.”

Sighing the man sent a last minute glare before muttering. “Some pajamas then?”

Kakashi nodded. “Something that won't come off of him if he starts to slide off the bed again.”

Hawk snorted. “He’s too small for any clothing to help with that.”

“Hey!” Iruka countered with a sharp cry.

Both Anbu shared a smile, the boy was small enough that the guard rail didn’t cover enough of the bed to not have the boy slide off.

“Don’t worry about it kid, your due for a growth spurt.”

Iruka huffed. “My dad was tall.”

The Anbu paused a moment, Iruka didn’t talk about them often so it was a surprise that the boy would bring the man up so easily.

“Was he?” Kakashi asked intrigued.

“Well..He was tall to me.”

Kakashi chuckled. “Most adults are tall to children.”

Iruka nodded against him. “ He was taller than mom.”

“Also normal.” Hawk tagged on.

Iruka frowned a moment before stating. “Dad wasn’t as tall as Raccoon though.”

That had Kakashi and Hawk smirking, though the latter’s smirk was hid by his mask.

“Was he as tall as me?” Hawk asked.

“Mmm maybe? It’s been too long.” Iruka shook his head a bit sadly.

“Don’t worry about it, by the sounds of it you’ll be taller than Wolf in no time.” Hawk teased the other Anbu. Kakashi glared back at him, not daring to comment when Iruka spoke up.

“Will I?”

Sighing Kakashi muttered. “You’ll grow soon enough.” He left out the implied. ‘I’ll grow more too’ As he didn’t figure Iruka would like to hear that. Shooting Hawk a look, the man nodded.

“Right well I’ll be back.” Hawk gave a nod to Kakashi before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

“Is he gone?”

Chuckling Kakashi replied. “Yeah he’s gone.”

Iruka sighed. “I hate being small.”

“Eh it might become useful later on.”

“How?”

“Well if your small, you’ll most likely be fast. If you're small you can fit in places others can't.”

Iruka nodded. “I guess so.”

Kakashi smirked as he listened to the boy have reservations against his small stature. “So how long have I been here and how long have you been keeping me company?”

Iruka tilted his head back, nearly toppling backwards only to be saved by Kakashi’s arm which was wrapped around the boys back. Iruka huffed much to the Anbu’s amusement.

“You’ve been here two days I guess, Raccoon told me what happened and then yesterday Hawk brought me here.”

“MmmHmm and why is it that Hawk brought you here and not Raccoon?”

Iruka shrugged. “I don’t know. Hawk just said to be quiet and follow along.”

Chuckling Kakashi asked. “Did he lie to Raccoon?”

“Not really? He said we were going to the hospital.”

“Uh huh, what for?”

“So I could see how mednins work, he said that if I knew how they worked I wouldn’t be as worked up about you being here.”

Kakashi snorted, that was a pretty bad lie. It wouldn’t take long for Shikaku or Himiko to go check on Iruka only to find the kid missing. Hawk was a dead man walking.

“Did you get to see how mednins work?” Kakashi couldn’t help himself.

“I got to see a woman give a man stitches.”

Kakashi grimaced. “Okay.” Not a great thing for the kid to see, but maybe it hadn’t been that bad.

“It was bloody, there was this giant hole in the guys arm. The floor had blood on it and the man was just sitting there getting stitches, it was pretty neat.”

Kakashi sighed, yep if Raccoon or Himiko didn’t kill the bastard, he would.

“Sounds...Interesting. Anything else?”

Iruka was quiet for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah. A woman was screaming really loud at the doctors, but Hawk wouldn’t let me stay to find out why. He just said that it wouldn’t be appropriate to have me watch.”

Kakashi sighed as he stared up at the ceiling, he should have known better than to allow that ingrate near Iruka. “Do you know what the woman was screaming about?” He really didn’t want to know, but he kind of needed to in order to accurately make Hawk suffer.

“She was screaming at a man next to her, it looked like she was breaking his hand and she was screaming about never having sex again. Why do-”

“OKAY...That’s all I need. Thank you Iruka.”

The boy nodded his head. “What was she-”

“Nothing, work related injury.” Kakashi coughed a bit. “She’s fine by now I’m sure.”

“Oh are you sure because she was screaming pretty loud.”

Kakashi was glad that Iruka couldn’t see the blush on his face. “I’m sure, she’s fine Iruka.” Hawk wasn’t going to be though. How the hell could he take the kid around the hospital and stumble upon a woman giving birth of all things. Iruka hummed against his side.

“The doctor said your leg was broken.”

Kakashi looked down idly relieved by the change in topic. “Hip, not leg.”

Iruka frowned. “Aren’t they the same thing?”

Smirking Kakashi replied. “Not really, but they’re connected by different bones.”

“Oh. How’d you break it?”

“Work related injury.” He said back with a chuckle.

Iruka frowned back at him, but was prevented from asking more when a puff of smoke revealed Hawk once more a pair of pajamas in his hands. The man stilled when he saw the death glare shooting back at him.

“What? I only took a minute.”

Kakashi glared all the harder before looking down at Iruka. “Iruka can you cover your ears for a minute and hum?”

“What? Why?”

“Just humor me.”

Iruka sighed, but did as asked. When he heard the kid humming did Kakashi glare back at Hawk.

“You took him around the hospital?!”

Hawk flinched. “It was-”

“He saw a woman giving birth. BIRTH Hawk!”

The teen sighed. “Okay yeah that was bad timing, but he didn’t ask any questions that were relevant to revealing what he was seeing and I quickly distracted him. I’m sure that he won’t ask any more que-” The teen shut up when he saw the man’s glare darken.

“He said a man had a hole in his arm. How is that not bad? How is seeing a woman giving birth not bad?”

Hawk sighed. “I didn’t think there would be serious cases in the light ward.”

Kakashi groaned. “I swear to god Hawk, I’m going to murder you as soon as I can get out of this bed.”

The teen snorted. “No your not.”

“Your right, I’ll let Himiko do that when Iruka tells her all about the screaming woman who was swearing off sex.”

Hawk froze.

“Yeah, he heard that.” Kakashi snipped, shaking his head the teen muttered. “You are never babysitting him again.”

“He’s not a baby ya know.”

The glare had him shutting up. “Defending his lame argument about that isn’t going to win you any favors with me. He’s a kid.”

Hawk shrugged. “Weren’t we all when we started at the academy?” He frowned. “Okay maybe not you.” His tone teasing.

Kakashi snorted. “Ha ha. My point is that I’m not trying to mentally scar the kid.”

Hawk snorted. “I think if he was going to be mentally scarred it would because of the shit he’s lived through, not a tour through the hospital.”

Kakashi had to give the teen points for that.

“Fine, just don’t do something stupid like that again. He told me how you lied to them.” He smirked.

Hawk coughed. “I neglected to tell the entire reason for our visit to the hospital.”

Kakashi chuckled. “Yeah they’ll just love that. How long do you think you have before they notice he’s missing or realize that you conveniently took him to the hospital? The same hospital they know I’m in.”

Hawk shrugged. “I have no idea, but the kid loves me so I figure I’m safe.”

Kakashi snorted. “Yeah that didn’t save me from either of them before, so you're screwed.”

“How’d we end up in this situation in the first place?”

“I took a bad fall on a mission and your a dumbass?”

Hawk glared back at the smirking teen. “I meant how did we come into possession of pre-genin who seems to get us into nothing, but trouble.”

“Ah. I found him in the woods and fed him. You shouldn’t feed strays.”

Hawk snorted. “Ha ha.”

Kakashi smirked before looking down when Iruka tiredly asked. “ Can I stop yet?” His voice was louder than needed due to his inability to hear them. 

Chuckling at the poor kids position, Hawk tossed the pajamas at Kakashi.

“Put the poor kid out of his misery, he already lost his eyesight to see your ugly mug or rather not see it.” The man chuckled.

Rolling his eyes, Kakashi gently pulled the boys hands away from his ears. “We’re done, thank you.”

Iruka sighed. “Why did I have to do that?”

“Anbu secrets.” Kakashi replied with mirth.

“Your lying aren’t you?”

Kakashi held Hawk’s gaze as the pair smirked at the speculative boys tone.

“Am I?” He countered.

Iruka frowned before shaking his head, managing to roll himself towards the Anbu. “I can’t tell.”

“Hmm well then I must be telling the truth.”

“Wolf that’s not how things work.”

“Hmm are you sure?”

The boy glared up at him. “Stop it.”

Chuckling he took pity on the kid. “Hawk’s going to help you get changed.”

That was of course news to Hawk, but one glare had the man sighing and dutifully coming to stand beside the bed. Getting Iruka sat up, he easily pulled the shirt over the kids head only to smirk when Iruka fell backwards as he struggled to get his arms and head through it. Pulling the kid upright once more, Hawk dared to ask.

“Can we forgo the pants?”

Kakashi snorted. “Coward.”

Hawk glared back at him. “I can take on missing nins anytime, but I am not a-”

“Have you taken on missing nins?” Iruka interjected.

Sighing at the boys excitement, Hawk glowered at the smirking Kakashi.

“Yes and no I will not tell you about it.” He quickly stated.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m already in a deep enough hole and my shovel broke a hell of a long time ago by the look Wolf keeps giving me.”

Iruka looked thoroughly confused by the man’s words for all of a moment before stating.

“Language.”

Kakashi laughed as the kid corrected the Anbu for his cursing. Hawk sighed, well aware of the little trick everyone had been using on the boy.

“Cute.” He muttered as he reached out and pulled the boy off of the bed. Kneeling down the two struggled to get the boy into the sleeping pants, from the noises he was hearing over the side of the bed Kakashi was tempted to forgive the man, after all he could always entertain himself with the notion that he didn’t need to punish him. Himiko and Shikaku would do that for him. When the Anbu stood, Iruka in tow and set the boy back onto the bed. Did the man sigh and mutter.

“Can I go now?”

“Sure.” Kakashi waved a hand as he pulled Iruka back against his side, ensuring the boy wouldn’t roll off the edge as he moved around to get comfortable. Hawk looked relieved to be free of them both. Taking a step back the teen prepared to do the transportation jutsu, only to be halted for a second more.

“Bye Hawk.”

Sighing the Anbu muttered. “Bye Iruka.” And then he was gone.

Kakashi smirked to himself, he knew the man couldn’t stay angry. Not when it concerned Iruka at least, staying angry at him however was a different thing. He was sure that he would hear about it later, but for right now he’d focus on his time with Iruka. The boy was clutching tightly to his hospital shirt, Kakashi figured it was because he was afraid of falling off the bed again.

“I won't let you fall.” He chuckled.

“You did earlier.” The boy groused.

“I wasn’t awake when you started to slip.” Kakashi retorted. “Besides you didn’t have far to fall, You’ve fallen further after I’ve tied you to tree’s.”

Iruka snorted. “I could see then.”

“Good point, but technically you did this to yourself.” 

Iruka didn’t respond for a moment, the boy staring up at Kakashi with sightless eyes. It still bothered Kakashi to see the boys eyes like that, but he had to remind himself that Iruka wasn’t blind and no matter how much his eyes appeared to have the same gleam as a corpse. Iruka was alive and not in fact blind, he was warm and breathing and totally fine. It was like a mantra he kept going through his head until Iruka spoke once more.

“You always come to see me when I’m sick or hurt.”

“Well yeah, but it’s a little easier for me to do so. You don’t wear a mask.”

Iruka shrugged. “This wasn’t hard.”

Sighing Kakashi muttered back to the kid. “That’s not the point Iruka, most people wouldn’t even consider being without their sight to just visit with someone.”

Iruka stared up at him before shrugging. Shaking his head at the kids reply, Kakashi reached up and pushed the kids head back down against his side. Iruka laughed as he was silently told to stop talking, his own arm coming up to try and push the Anbu’s arm away with little success as he couldn’t orientate his arm very well. Kakashi chuckled when the boy finally grasped a hold of his arm only to push at it, Iruka wasn’t managing to move him. The boy however was moving.

“Your going to fall off if you keep that up.”

Iruka huffed as he reached out to grab a hold of the Anbu’s shirt once more. Kakashi laid his arm behind the boy and pulled him flush against him. 

“There. I’ll try to prevent any more meetings with the floor, but I can’t promise you wont roll off if I’m asleep.”

“You’re never asleep.”

Kakashi snorted. “I do sleep Iruka, I just tend to wake up faster than most.”

“Wake up faster then.”

Laughing he swatted the kids head as Iruka laughed against his side.

“Brat.”

“Wolf?”

“Yeah Iruka.”

“How long do you think you’ll be here?”

Kakashi glanced towards his shoulder, the dull ache was receding the longer he lay still. He knew it would just take a few days for his chakra to circulate enough to mend whatever remaining tissue damage there was. That didn’t mean he had to stay in the hospital while it finished healing however. A glance down to his hip however had him sighing, the ache there was sharper and the nurses words were obviously true. His hip was broken, not that he expected it to stay that way for long. At most it would take two days before he was back on his feet and that was only if he chanced things by leaving early. Smirking to himself he glanced back to Iruka.

“A day.”

Iruka seemed to brighten. “Really?”

“Sure, I heal pretty fast and it’s not like I had a serious injury. Anbu tend to get there injuries mended by med nins instead of being forced to heal like the rest of you.”

“Why?”

Kakashi chuckled. “Because we’re impatient and the village needs us, the med nins would rather expend a bit of chakra than have to put up for us for long.”

Iruka laughed. “You never let me get away with stuff.”

Kakashi snorted. “Of course not, but you don’t get your injuries healed like me. You have to heal on your own and that takes time.”

Iruka huffed. “Not fair.”

The Anbu chuckled at the boys pouting face. “I don’t make the rules kid, besides it’s not so bad.”

“Hospital food sucks.” Came the quick retort.

“I will not argue there, but it’s better for you to stay there if your hurt. I can get away with leaving anytime I feel like it.”

Someone clearing their throat had Kakashi looking over towards the door, the nurse must have left it ajar because he hadn’t heard it opening. Himiko and Shikaku stood there, the latter smirking while his wife had on a murderous glare.

“What was that?”

Kakashi sighed as he pushed the kids head back into his chest. He so didn’t want to be the one to explain this to them. Shikaku frowned when he saw Iruka, he didn’t have his mask. Smirking a bit at the man’s mild panic, not so unlike his own Kakashi informed them.

“Blame Hawk.”

“Huh?”

Chuckling he whispered back to Iruka. “I’m not talking to you Iruka.”

“Oh.” 

“What do you mean blame Hawk? What is he doing here?” Himiko scowled as her husband made to duck out of the room before Iruka saw his face. Kakashi waved his free hand at the man, while the other kept Iruka pressed against him. Iruka was trying to look up, no doubt because he recognized the woman’s voice.

“It’s fine.” He called out to the man.

Shikaku scowled back at him. “Really because last I checked it was still against the rules for non-Anbu personnel to know the identities of Anbu.”

“Wolf let me up.” The boy complained as he struggled against the stronger teens grasp.

Shikaku scowled back at Kakashi, shaking his head he made to leave.

“He can’t see you.” Kakashi called out.

The man froze, twisting back around he shook his head. “What do you mean he can’t see me?”

Himiko took a hesitant step forward at the teen’s words. Kakashi smiled back at her before looking down at Iruka.

“Sit up carefully okay, don’t want Raccoon to have to save you.”

“Wolf.” The boy groaned.

Laughing he released the boy to sit up, he wobbled a bit before finding purchase on the bed. He turned towards where he thought the others were only to hear a gasp.

“Hi.” He waved. His hand way off center to where they were.

Kakashi snorted before grabbing the kids hand and redirecting it a bit.

“Try now.”

Iruka waved again. Shikaku came forward, surpassing his frozen wife to peer at Iruka’s eyes. They were white, greyed out in blindness. Reaching out he grabbed the boys chin to see the extent of the damage only for the boy to make a startled noise. Sighing he apologized.

“It’s okay kid, it’s just me.” He sent a scowl towards Kakashi before looking back to Iruka. “Just let me take a look.”

Iruka nodded in his hold before holding still for the Anbu, Shikaku stared into the boys milky white eyes his frown darkening. He felt his wife come to stand beside him.

“What happened?” She whispered.

Shikaku was about to shake his head, he couldn’t see any damage to the boys eyes, but that didn’t mean much. A head injury could cause blindness.

“ Hawk made me blind.” Iruka chipperly announced.

Kakashi choked on his own saliva as he knew how the other two adults would take that.

“He what!” Himiko shouted.

“No no no.” Kakashi waved his hand and shook his head. “He’s not blind. It’s a jutsu. Just a jutsu, his eyes are fine.”

Himiko’s death glare turned to him while Shikaku looked on with a scowl.

“Iruka wanted to see me so Hawk brought him here, but they wouldn’t let him in because I didn’t have my mask. So the idiot went and found a mednin to blackout the kids eyes.”

“It’s cool.” Iruka stated all the while still being held captive by Shikaku’s hold on his chin. 

Sighing the Anbu released the kid and with a glare asked. “So how long till he gets his eyesight back?”

“I’m assuming the mednin has to reverse it.”

Shikaku shook his head before turning his attention towards Iruka when the boy happily said.

“Hawk ran me into a wall to prove I couldn’t see anything.”

Kakashi chuckled. “He did do that.” He backed the kid up.

Himiko was shaking her head. “Iruka why-”

“Don’t bother I’ve been trying to ask that all day.”

She pursed her lips before giving a nod. If Kakashi couldn’t get a straight answer from the boy as to why he had allowed his eyesight to be taken then she wasn’t going to waste her breath.

“Are you okay?” Her question was posed to both of them.

“Dislocated shoulder, broken hip. I’m good. How about you Iruka?”

“I keep falling down...But I’m okay.”

Kakashi chuckled at the kids downtrodden appearance when he announced that he kept falling. “He doesn’t have much balance without his eyesight.”

Iruka shook his head. “Nope.”

Shikaku chuckled at the boys simple reply. “Huh maybe we should use this when you come to visit.” He winced when his wife hit him upside the head.

Iruka nodded. “It’s coo-”

“No Iruka honey, my husband was being an idiot.” She glared at Shikaku. “We won’t be making you blind when you come to visit.”

Shikaku shrugged. “Was just an idea.” The glare he received had him nodding.

“So where is Hawk?” The tone in the woman’s voice had Kakashi gleefully stating.

“He ran away, coward that he is. He feared how you’d react.”

Himiko smirked. “Oh I bet he did.” 

“But it gets better.” Kakashi sang with a smile.

The two adults sighed, knowing that look. Iruka turned to look in his direction.

“How’s it get better?”

Snorting at the boy, Kakashi replied. “Why don’t you tell Himiko and Raccoon of your adventure with Hawk in the hospital.”

“Okay.” Twisting back around the boy stared just shy of of Himiko, not aware that he was off centered. The woman smirked at the poor boys lack of sight. “He took me around the hospital and I got to see a guy getting stitches.”

Himiko sighed. “I’m sure that was lovely.” She muttered.

“It was cool, he was bleeding all over the place.”

Himiko shot a glare towards Kakashi who held his hands up. “I wasn’t there, Hawk was.”

Nodding she turned back towards Iruka only to be prevented from speaking by the boy continuing on with his story.

“He had this giant hole in his arm and it looked like he’d need a lot of stitches. I don’t know how they would get that closed with just thread.”

Shikaku sighed as he stared back towards Kakashi, the teen shrugged. 

“Alright kid we get it. You got to see all the glory the hospital has to offer its patients.”

Iruka tilted his head only to be caught by Kakashi when he nearly fell over. The Anbu snickered as he righted the kid who shook his head a bit. Himiko gave the boy a small smile as she tried not to chuckle at the boys reaction to nearly falling over once more.

“And then there was the screaming lady.”

The adults paled. Kakashi chuckled. “Keep going Iruka.” 

Shikaku glared at the amused teen, he wasn’t sure why Kakashi was finding humor in the boy reciting what he had seen. Least of all when it appeared to be bloody.

“Well she was screaming really loud and Hawk was nervous so he started pulling me down the hallway.”

“Of course he did, you shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

“That’s what he said.” Iruka mused. “He said it wasn’t appropriate for me to see that, though he wouldn’t explain why. I mean she looked like she was in an awful lot of pain and she was cursing a lot.”

Himiko smiled. “Honey people tend to curse when their in pain.”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, she kept shouting at the man next to her. She said she’d never have sex again. Why would she say that? Hawk wouldn’t explain i-”

Himiko laughed while her husband shook his head. The kunoichi smothered her laughter as best she could, but Iruka still heard her.

“Why does everyone keep laughing at that?” He said with a frown.

“We’ll explain when your older.” Shikaku muttered as he shot a not impressed look towards Kakashi. The teen shrugged back at him.

“At least he didn’t really see anything.”

Shikaku rolled his eyes. Himiko smiled when she saw Iruka try to bat at Kakashi’s hand which was holding the back of his shirt.

“Hey you told me not to let you fall off the bed again.”

Iruka groaned as he let his hands fall back to his lap. “Why can’t they make better beds?”

Kakashi snorted. “The beds fine Iruka, they just normally account for pre-genin climbing into bed with Anbu.”

Iruka shook his head. “I couldn’t climb up, Hawk had to lift me up.”

Kakashi snorted. “Smart ass.” The boy giggled only to laugh when Kakashi pushed the boy forward. Sending him sprawling on top of the Anbu’s legs. Iruka huffed as he sat back up, a simple look at Shikaku watching to make sure that the boy didn’t accidentally fall off the bed.

“So how long have you been blind kid?”

“Since yesterday.”

Himiko scowled. “Is that when Hawk brought you here?”

“Yep.”

“Uh huh and so that nonsense about learning stuff from mednins was an excuse for him to bring you here.”

“Yep.” The boy nodded only to stop. “But I wasn’t supposed to say that.” He frowned.

Kakashi laughed. “Don’t worry about it Iruka, Hawk was in trouble long before they got here.”

“Oh...Okay.”

Himiko shook her head. “I suppose I can’t blame you for this mess then.”

“No you cannot, I woke up and the kid was being told off for having climbed out of bed by himself.”

“I was fine.”

Kakashi snorted. “You fell out of bed and gave yourself a goose egg before being trapped on the floor.”

Iruka muttered something that sounded like ‘I did not’. Ignoring the boys pout, Kakashi continued.

“Then I got the lovely surprise of seeing his eyes.”

“Do they look cool?”

The group sighed. “Iruka they look like anyone’s eyes when they go blind.”

Iruka blinked. “Does that mean they look cool?”

Shikaku snorted. “No.”

“Damn.”

“Language.” Came from three distinct voices. Iruka blushed before mumbling an apology. The adults smirked at the boys chastised face.

“Himiko could you take him to get something to eat?” Kakashi asked with a look. The kunoichi smiled back at him.

“Sure. Come on Iruka.” She leaned over and helped the boy slide to the edge of the bed where he hopped down. She took the boys hands and began gently leading him towards the door.

“Your not going to run me into walls are you?”

The woman sighed as she shot a glare over her shoulder. “No sweetie I’m not.” The pair left the room, the door shutting behind them. It was silent for all of a minute before Kakashi muttered.

“He’s dead.”

“Oh definitely and whatever remains she leaves me will be desecrated.”

Kakashi chuckled. “I know how you feel, I damn near fainted when I saw his eyes. I wasn’t sure what had happened and the nurse was way too amused by it all.” He scowled.

Shikaku nodded. “Still, it was imaginative.”

“It was stupid is what it was.” Kakashi groused.

Shikaku shrugged his shoulders before musing. “Though I wonder why he even came up with that. It’s not like Iruka wouldn’t understand being denied seeing you. He understands that there are times he can’t see us.”

Kakashi nodded. “I know. Frankly I wish he hadn’t. It’s unnerving to see the kid like that.”

Shikaku sighed. “He’s not blind Kakashi.”

“Looks like it.”

“It does, but he’s fine. He’s finding it too amusing to be sure, but then again that’s how Iruka reacts to most things.”

Kakashi was silent a moment, not staring back at Shikaku so much as the wall beyond him. The shadow user didn’t comment on his distraction as he too was thinking about what he’d learned. He chuckled a moment later gaining Kakashi’s attention.

“What?”

“I was just imaging how embarrassed the idiot was when Iruka saw that woman giving birth.”

Kakashi glared. “I’m sure he regrets it, knowing Iruka he had to have asked a million questions about it.”

“True. Though I would hope that he wouldn’t answer any of them.”

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders as he relaxed into his pillows, the spot where Iruka had been curled up beside him was going cold. He missed the heat from the smaller body, he settled with knowing that the kid would be back soon enough.

“So how much of a head start should we give him?”

Kakashi smirked. “Well technically speaking your wife can’t locate him without you, so it’s really how much you want to get yourself in trouble in order to save him.”

Shikaku thought a moment. “So as soon as we leave then.”

“That was what I figured.”

“How long you hold up here?”

“My shoulder’s fine, they’re fusing my hip back together though...I bet I can leave by tomorrow.”

Shikaku rolled his eyes at the teen. “ And that is why you are not a med nin.”

Kakashi glowered back at him, but Shikaku ignored the look in favor of stating. “You don’t want to scare Iruka do you? He gets his eyes back and he’s gonna freak to see you collapse.”

Kakashi muttered. “That was low.”

The shadow user chuckled, not the least bit repentant for using the boy against the Anbu. He knew it was a point that would actually get Kakashi to listen to him. As it was Kakashi had his arms folded over his chest, if Shikaku was feeling mean he would have pointed out that he was pouting. He only withheld the comment because he figured the teen had been through enough what with waking only to see Iruka’s eyes filmed over.

“So the kid staying with you then? We could take him home with us, provided we can get his eyes fixed.” He mused.

Kakashi shook his head. “He’s already blind, might as well let him stay.”

Shikaku sighed. “I never figured we’d be talking about the kid going blind so easily.”

“I never figured the word blind and Iruka would be in the same sentence.” Kakashi glowered back.

Shikaku shrugged, not bothered by the teens glare.

“Well if your going to be released in a day or so, it shouldn’t be too bad. Granted the kid looks about as stable as a newborn fawn.”

Kakashi smirked. “You should have seen him when he fell out of bed, kid got to his feet only to fall back against the wall. Couldn’t walk straight to save his life, he looked drunk.”

Shikaku chuckled. “How’d you get him back in bed with you then? You didn’t get out did you?” He sent a frown towards the impatient teen.

Kakashi shook his head. “Nah after repeated attempts and failures, I called Hawk. I figured the least the bastard could do was help the kid up.”

“True. I’m surprised you didn’t do anything to him.”

Kakashi snorted. “I was tempted too, believe me I was. Even with Iruka’s eyes being cut off as they are, he’d hear the screaming and wonder what was going on.”

Shikaku laughed. “I’m sure he would. I suppose you’ll just have to hope that Himiko leaves some of him for you.” He smirked at the thought of what his wife would do to the teen.

Kakashi waved a hand. “Have at him. He had enough sense to know to lie to you both. He knew there was no way you would have allowed Iruka to undergo that jutsu just to be able to see me.”

“That’s because we wouldn’t have.”

“Exactly, which is why the idiot lied and brought Iruka here to get his eyes blacked out. He knew sooner or later that this would come back to bite him in the ass, though he insinuated that he could avoid punishment simply because Iruka loved him.”

Shikaku snorted. “He doesn’t know us very well does he?”

Kakashi shook his head. “No he does not.” He smirked back at the man. “I’m sure he’ll learn quick enough once Himiko gets through with him. You might have to hold him for her though.”

Shikaku smirked. “I think I can manage that.”

“Didn’t doubt you for a second.”

The man rolled his eyes, he was well aware he was being taunted now. Kakashi smiled back at him as if he wasn’t guilty of anything.

“So anyone else come by?”

Kakashi shook his head. “Nope.”

Humming to himself Shikaku wasn’t about to rain on the teens parade, sooner or later someone higher up would come to get Kakashi’s statement and when they did Iruka would be kicked out. As if knowing what the man was thinking, the teen waved a hand.

“I think I can persuade them to let the kid stay.” The smirk on his face had Shikaku snorting back at him.

“Threatening to bail out the window is not a means of getting what you want.”

“Sure it is, it’s always worked before.”

Shaking his head at the gall of the teens choices, he barely twitched when the door came open. His wife gently leading Iruka by the hand.

“And here we are.” She smiled down at the boy. Looking up to her husband she smiled. “We are in need of your services.”

He raised a brow at her.

“Himiko...”

“Nope.” She said in a quick voice, ignoring the boy in favor of telling her husband. “He refuses my help, so your going to help him.”

“With what?”

“I can do it.” Iruka muttered.

“You ran into five things on our way back to the room and that was with me helping you, I am not allowing you to try and go to the bathroom unaided.” She groused.

Shikaku chuckled. “Come on kid.” Walking over he took the kids hand and walked into the adjoining bathroom. Himiko smirked along side Kakashi as they listened to Iruka argue that he didn’t need help because he could pee with his eyes closed. Once the door was shut did she shake her head.

“He’s so stubborn.”

“To be fair there aren’t many adults who would want help with that.”

She shot him a look. “There’s not many adults who go blind for the sake of visiting people.”

“Touche.”

Nodding the woman came closer , with a smile she reached out only to hit him upside the head. 

“Ow.”

“Don’t be an idiot.”

“What’d I do?” Kakashi glared back.

“You should have called us.”

The teen rolled his eyes. “Seriously? It wasn’t like either of us needed anything. We were fine.”  The glare he got back had him amending. “Fine, I’ll make you a deal the next time I’m laid up in the hospital and Iruka’s blind I’ll call you.” He winced when his smart ass remark earned him another smack upside the head.

“Your not funny.” She stated with a glare.

“Stop hitting me.” The teen glared back.

“Stop doing things that warrant  being hit.” She countered.

They both glared at one another until the door opened, Iruka was blushing something fierce while Shikaku was shaking his head. He brought the kid back towards Kakashi’s bed before lifting him up. The Anbu pulled Iruka once more into his side, the boy not kicking up a fuss at all. Smirking at the boys sudden action of burying his head in his ribs, Kakashi chuckled.

“It’s not so bad.”

The boy muttered something against his ribs that only Kakashi heard. The teen snorted. “Cute.” Looking back towards Shikaku he informed the man.

“I’m apparently not allowed to have an opinion because I wasn’t the one having someone else hold my dick.”

Shikaku snorted. Himiko glared back at them both.

“Don’t be crass.”

“He said it.” Kakashi defended himself.

“Honestly.” She shook her head. “Your all a bunch of children.”

“I can make this all better.” Kakashi stated with a smile. Himiko rolled her eyes not the least bit convinced by the teen’s words. “Raccoon is going to help you track down Hawk with our tattoo’s.”

She smirked. “Your right that does make it better.”

Kakashi nodded. “Figured you’d say that.” Stroking his hand up and down Iruka’s back when the boy shifted against him, the Anbu added. “I’m giving you all the powers granted to me as Anbu to make that idiot suffer. Your an honorary Anbu for the afternoon.”

Himiko chuckled. “Like I need that.” She jerked her thumb over to her husband. “He won't be running long.” Shikaku  chuckled alongside his wife.

Kakashi sighed, holding back the urge to yawn simply because he didn’t want to see the knowing looks on the two shinobi’s faces. Instead choosing to say. “I think this one is down for the count.” He looked down at Iruka, it seemed that with some food in his stomach the boy was prepared to take a nap.

“Well that one should join him.” Himiko remarked with a smile.

Kakashi snorted. “ Ha ha. Let me know how things go with Hawk.” 

Himiko nodded as her husband came around from the other side of the bed to wrap an arm around her. “Oh we will.”

Kakashi smirked as he watched the couple vanish, part of him felt sorry for Hawk. He quickly shrugged it off in favor of getting comfortable next to Iruka. A nap didn’t sound half bad.

 

**************

 

Kakashi came alert in an instant, the familiar chakra signature had him groaning. “Go away.”

The man snorted back at him. “I believe that Anbu aren’t allowed visitors.”

Kakashi peeled his eyes open to glare down at Ibiki, the man was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. “Thought you liked the kid, apparently I was wrong.” He shook his head. “You know what this means K-”

“Shhh he doesn’t know.” The irate teen interjected.

Ibiki raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

Sighing Kakashi rolled his eyes. “Hold on a sec.” Gently he shook the boy to rouse him from his nap. The boy muttered against him and tried to bury his head once more to stay asleep curled up beside him. Kakashi didn’t let him, he shook the boy once more and smirked when Iruka sighed and turned in his arms.

“Wolf?”

“Hey, can you sit up for me?”

The boy gave a tired nod, but did as asked. He rubbed at his eyes a moment as if clearing the sleep from them. Ibiki scowled back at him not the least bit impressed to see the boy awake.

“You must really have a vendetta to allow him to see me.”

Kakashi snorted. “I’m not so cruel as to do that.” He taunted.

Iruka’s head jerked up when he heard a stranger's voice. Ibiki frowned when he saw the boys eyes. Looking back towards Kakashi he shook his head. “You didn’t tell me the kid was blind.”

Iruka pouted. “I’m not blind.”

Ibiki raised a brow. “Really because from where I’m standing you look pretty damn blind kid.”

“Language.” 

Kakashi snickered before pulling the kid back against him. “That doesn’t apply to him Iruka.” The death glare he was getting had him quickly telling the boy not to do that again.

“But why you said everyone-”

“I’m not everyone kid.” Ibiki growled.

Kakashi sighed, this was not going as smoothly as it could. “It’s a jutsu, he’s temporarily blind.”

Ibiki’s scowl lessened somewhat. “This your idea?” The tone of the man’s voice showed he wasn’t amused. For once Kakashi took great pleasure in not being the culprit.

“Nope. This was all Hawk’s idea.” 

Iruka nodded against him. “He brought me to see Wolf.”

“He did, did he?”

Iruka nodded with a smile. “I like him.”

Kakashi smirked when he saw Ibiki roll his eyes. “Who are you?” The boys question had Ibiki scowling at Kakashi. The teen shrugged only managing to get the boys attention because of it. “Who is he Wolf?”

Sighing Kakashi was about to come up with a simple response when Ibiki cut him off.

“I’m his boss.”

Well that was simple enough Kakashi supposed.

“Really? So your Anbu too?”

Ibiki snorted. “Hardly.”

Iruka frowned, confused as to how the man wasn’t Anbu and yet was somehow the boss of Wolf and the others. “H-”

“Don’t worry about it Iruka, you wouldn’t like him anyway. He’s a grouch.” Kakashi smirked back at his boss.

Ibiki scowled. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

“You couldn’t hurt him.” Iruka stated simply causing Ibiki to raise a brow while Kakashi smirked.

“Oh and do tell how do you know that?”

“Cause he’s Anbu and your not.”

Kakashi laughed, it was true enough. Ibiki had said he wasn’t Anbu and to Iruka there was no one higher in rank than Anbu. Barring the hokage of course. Ibiki scowled for a moment before he smirked.

“Smart kid.”

Kakashi nodded. “Yeah he is.”

Iruka tilted his head back and forth between the two men, unsure what was going on. Kakashi managed to get a hold of himself sooner than Ibiki did seeing as the man was analyzing Iruka.

“So is there something I can do for you? Boss.” He taunted.

Ibiki snorted. “I’d cut that out if I were you. I came to see what lame ass excuse you had to explain your injuries.”

Kakashi clamped a hand around Iruka’s mouth before the boy could speak up, he already knew what the boy was going to say. By the glare being sent his way, Ibiki knew too. Smiling Kakashi replied evenly.

“I don’t have any amazing excuses, simply bad luck on my part.”

The man rolled his eyes. “I see. Do you really think I’d buy that?”

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders as he released Iruka’s mouth, the boy was frowning up at him.

“Wolf why’d you do that?”

“To save your life.”

Iruka laughed. “What?”

Ibiki scowled, not amused by his joke.

“Don’t worry about it kid.” Smirking back at his boss, Kakashi told the man. “I don’t know what else to tell you.” He shot a look towards the kid sitting next to him. 

Ibiki nodded. “Fine. We’ll see how you feel after your released.”

Kakashi nodded his head. “Yeah I’m sure my memory will come back to me.”

“Did you hit your head?”

Kakashi chuckled at the innocent question. “No Iruka I didn’t.”

“Oh, then why-”

Ibiki sighed. “Is he always this inquisitive?”

Iruka turned to stare in the strangers direction. “What’s that mean?”

Kakashi smirked. “That a good enough answer for you?”

Ibiki nodded. “Why you put up with this...” The man shook his head.

“Well he’s far better company than you are.”

Iruka laughed. “I am?”

“Definitely.” Kakashi said with a smile towards Ibiki.

“Your hilarious.” The man’s dry tone was only matched by the firm expression on the man’s face. “I’ll see you once your recovered.”

“Sure sure.” He waved a hand towards the man and watched as he stalked towards the door.

“What’s your name?”

Kakashi snickered as he watched his boss turn to regard the boy a moment, he was waiting patiently for an answer. Glancing back towards Kakashi he glared.

“You find that out kid and you’ll lose more than your eyes.” 

Kakashi glared as the man left, the sound of the door shutting prompting Iruka to speak up.

“What’d he mean by that?”

“Nothing Iruka, he’s just in a bad mood.” He grumbled as he continued to glare after the man, the door being closed not diminishing the look meant for the man who was already long gone. Twisting back around when he felt Iruka shift on the bed, he smirked his previous irritation from Ibiki’s visit waning. Iruka sighed against him as he got comfortable.

“Wolf.”

“Yeah Iruka.” He said with a smirk.

“Himiko sounded mad about Hawk...She kept making funny noises when I answered her questions.”

Kakashi smiled. “Did she?”

“Yeah. Do you think she’s mad at him?”

“Nah.” He lied. “I’m sure she’s just going to show her appreciation for him having brought you to see me.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Kakashi smiled as he stared up at the ceiling. He couldn’t wait to hear just what the kunoichi did to the teen. He doubted that Hawk would soon forget the consequences of lying to the woman and then on top of that involving Iruka into his scheme. Even if he had meant well originally. Closing his eyes Kakashi told the boy.

“I’m glad your here.”

“Me too. I don’t mind not being able to see if I can stay with you.”

Kakashi sighed. “Your a strange kid Iruka, you know that?”

“No.”

“Well you are.”

“Okay...Is that bad?”

“Not even a little.” Kakashi chuckled.

“Wolf.”

“Hmm?”

“Can you learn the jutsu for my eyes?”

Frowning he looked down at the kid. “Why?”

“Cause then you wouldn’t have to wear your mask all the time.”

“Iruka you can’t go around town blind.”

“No.” The boy shook his head. “But I know my apartment with my eyes closed.”

Kakashi smirked. “We’ll see.” He didn’t intend to do that to the kid, but he might learn the jutsu just in case something like this happened again. Iruka snuggled closer to him, his arm wrapped around the Anbu’s chest.

“Wolf.”

Smirking at the boys inability to rest when he had a multitude of questions, the teen replied. “Yes Iruka.”

“Hospital food still sucks even when you can’t see it.”

Kakashi was sure he’d die laughing. “Good to know kid.” He chuckled. “Good to know.”

  
  



End file.
